Eliectric-iiamp socket



Feb. 5, 19.24. 1,482,603

F. A. FAULHABER, JR

ELECTRIC LAMP SOCKET Filed June '7, 1922 I N VEN TOR.

-'c'aezja/ awallakmfr BY Z i ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 5, 1924.

rammelen a., FAULnABEa, an.,

PATENT OFFICE.

0F EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

Ennemnrsnmr SOCKET,

Applicatiomled Iune 7, 1922i Serial No.. 566,479.

T0 all 'whom it may concern: n

Be it known that I, FREDERroK A. FAUL- HABER, Jr., a citizen ofthe United States,.

residing at East Orange, in the county Aof Essex and State of New Jersey, have in. vented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Lamp Sockets.; andjI do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description offtheinvention, suchas kwill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makey and use the same, reference being .had to the' ac-` companying drawings, and to'characters ofl reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification;

This invention relates'general1y, to im?,1A

provements in socket connectionsfor incan-f descent electric lamps. a

The invention has for its several objects, to Vprovide a socket connectionofthe' bayo-v net type having a novel arrangement andi construction of contact devices for .engaging the terminal electrodes of the lamp base,j when the latter isinserted in the socket, which not only serves-to positively close an' electric circuit through the lamp, but alsol serves to hold the lamp, base firmly engaged in the socket against likelihood ofaccidental displacement therefromj` by7 vif bration, jars or other similar causes; to provide a novel construction of socket body' capable of being formed from sheet metalblanks by simple operations, rendering thel same cheap and easy of production in large quantities; to provide ak novel `means forj mounting the contact devices of the socket. in suitably insulated and operative relation thereto, together with a conveniently disposed and easily accessible means for connecting the electrical circuit wires therewith; and to provide a socket connection-of the kind referred to which, `as ja; whole; is cheap to produce, the parts ofV which are reduced to aminimum, and of-ajcharacter to. be easily and quickly assembled in manu` facture.

Other objects of this invention, -n'ot at this time more particularly enumerated,.w ill be clearly understood from the fol-lowing detailed description ofthe same.

The:l invention A isA clearly illustrated in. the accompanying, drawings, in which Figure lis a side" elevation of-,th'e noyejl'-, Socketyconecton vlcflwfllan 91.21.96,. ,Eig-

ure 2isan lend elevation of the same; Figurev 3 lis `a vertical longitudinal section of the same, taken on line 3 3 in Figure 2, and draw-n on an enlarged scale; Figure 4 isa transverse vertical section, taken on line in Figure 1, and drawn on an enlarged scale; Figure 5 is a horizontal section with the lamp removed, taken on line 5-5 in said Figure `1, andv drawn on an enlarged scale; Figure 6 is a horizontal section, taken online 6-6 in Figure 3; and Figure 7 is a plan view of a blank` of sheet metal out oi-which the socketbody is formed.

Similar characters of reference are emviews, to `indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the drawings, thesocketisformed-out vofy a sheet metal blank, such as that `illustrated in Figure 7, in which ffl-,- indicates a main body having atone vertical edge a tongueor lug 8 and at the'opposite end a slot 9, and -bindicatesv a pair ofleg or standard blanks integrallyconnected with the body ato vproject from its lower horizontal edge, eachvrleg yor standard blank Z terminatingin a clenching lug 10 of reduced width. Said body -a is also provided with suitablydisposed bayonet slots 1l, leading vertically downward from' the upper horizontal vedge thereof.

In forming the socket out of the above described blank, the body 0L-'- is rolled, in the direction of its longest dimension, to forma tubular socket member 12, the ends of theV body being caused to abut, and the tongue or lug 8 being inserted through: the 'slot 9, so that the free end of thel former may be turned backwardly or clenched'over the slotted end of the body tothe lower endy ofthe socket member, thus ormingtheinwardly o-settinvrportions or ahm1y1ders13-rcm-which 4the 'leg members proper 14 project downwardly to form a socket standard of reduced width, said leg members proper 1 4 being spaced apart, in their opposed relation, for a distanceapproximating the width of the same, thereby rendering the socket standard of substantially square or polygonal. cross sectional outline. i

The reference character 15 indicates a contact carrying plate, the same lbeing made of some suitable insulatingmaterial, such as hard-rubber, libre, condensite, bakelite or' similar material. Said carrying plate 15 is provided with a centrally disposed opening 16 of substantially square or polygonal outline, and of a size to permit the passage of the socket standard therethrough, so that the carrying plate may be slidably mounted on said socket standard for vertical or up and down movement relative to the lower end of the socket member 12. Integrally formed, in connection with opposite sides of said carrying plate 15 are the oppositely and outwardly projecting arms or Awings 17, which ylie in the horizontal plane of the carrying plate 15, and extend beyond the circumference of the lower end of the socket memberl 12. Mounted on the upper surfaces of said respective arms or wings 17 are the metallic contact ldevices through which current is delivered to the lamp engaged in the socket. These contact devices respectively comprise a yfiat base-portion 18 registered and supported upon an arm, or wing 17, and secured thereto' by a rivet or fastener 19 which y, possesses an enlarged head 20 at its lowerL end. Said rivet or fastener is passed upwardly through the arm or wing 17 and through the base-portion 18 of the lcontact device, and then riveted down upon the latter, so as to secure the same against displacement. The said rivet or fasteneris provided with an internally threaded vertical opening to receivethe shank 21 of a binding screw 21. Integrally connected with the inner end of said base-portion 18, so as to be inwardly off-set to a position extending into the lower end of said socket member 12, but held spaced from the walls of the latter so as not to contact therewith of said carrying platev 15 and thesaid wall "f 25 to which the socket connection is attached, is a compression spring 26 which exerts a normal upwardly thrusting pressure upon said carrying plate 15, whereby, when the lamp is removed from the socket member, the carrying plate 15 is held stopped against the shoulders or off-setting portions 13 of the socket standard.

The incoming wire 27 of the electric circuit is secured by a binding screw 21 to one contact device and to the other contact device is fixed the outgoing wire 28.

The reference character 29 indicates an electric incandescent lamp for attachment or .connection in the socket member 12, the same having a base-portion 30 provided with the opposite laterally projecting locking pins 31, and at the bottom of the base are the respective terminal electrodes 32 through which the current enters and leaves after traversing the filament of the lamp. To insert the lamp in the socket, the baseportion 30 is entered in the open end thereof, in such manner that the locking pins 31 pass into the respective bayonet slots 11. As the lamp is pushed down into the socket member 12, the respective termina-l electrodes 32 are brought into contact or engagement with the contact terminals 24 of the contact devices supported by the carrying plate 15. This engagement of said terminal electrodes 32 and contact terminals 24 takes place before the locking pins 31 reach the` bottom of the bayonet slots 11, and consequently as the base-portion 30 movesfurther down to carry the locking pins 31 into locked engagement with the bottoms of the bayonet slots, the contact devices and carrying plate 15 are pressed downward against the tension of the compression spring 26,- the increased tension thus produced in the latter tending to more strongly thrust upwardly upon the carrying plate and contact devices, whereby not only are the latter firmly held in operative engagement or contact with terminal electrodes of the lamp, but further acting to firmly seat and hold t-he locking pins 31 in their locked relation to the bayonet slots 11, and securely held againstaccidental displacement by reason of vibration, jars or similar causes.

Fromthe above description of my invention, it will be clearly evident that I have provided aK very efficient socket connection, which is easily manipulated, which is free from liability to short-circuiting, an d which can be cheaply manufactured in large quantities.

I am aware that some changes may be made in arrangement and detail construcj tion of the several parts of the device without departing'from the scope of the invenf tion as set forth in the foregoing specifica tion and as defined in the appended claims. Hence, -Ivdo vnot limit my invention to the ias exact arrangements and combinations of the parts as above described or as shown in the accompanying drawings.

I claim l. In a device of the kind described, a bayonet type tubular socket member having inwardly off set leg members projecting longitudinally from its inner end, said leg members being spaced apart and together forming a socket standard of substantially polygonal outline in cross section, a carrying plate of insulating material having a central opening for engaging the same over said socket standard for vertical movement toward and away from the lower end of said socket member, means for connecting the lower ends of said leg members with a base, a compression spring intermediate said carrying plate and said base yieldably thrusting said carrying plate toward said socket member, and contact means supported on said base to engage the terminal means of a lamp inserted in said socket member.

2. In a device of the kind described, a

Y bayonet type tubular socket member having inwardly off set leg members projecting longitudinally from its inner end, said leg members being spaced apart and together forming a socket standard of substantially polygonal outline in cross sect-ion, a carrying plate of insulating material having a central opening for engaging the same over said socket standard for vertical movement toward and away from the lower end of said socket member, means for connecting the lower ends of said leg members with a base, a compression spring intermediate said carrying plate and said base yieldably thrusting said carrying plate toward said socket member, said carrying plate having integral outwardly extending wings at its opposite sides, Contact devices fixed on said wings, means for attaching circuit wires to said contact devices, and said contact devices having upwardly projected contact terminals intermediate said leg-members and disposed so that their upper ends will enter the lower end of said socket member to engage the terminal electrodes of a lamp inserted in said socket member.

3. In a device of the kind described, a tubular socket member having bayonet slots at its receiving end, inwardly off set legmembers extending longitudinally from its inner end, a suitable base to which said legmembers are secured, said leg-members being spaced apart and together forming a socket standard of substantially polygonal outline in cross section, a `transversely disposed carrying plate of insulating material having a central opening conforming substantially to the cross-sectional outline of said socket standard so as to receive the latter whereby the carrying plate is movable toward and away from the inner end of said socket member, a coil spring around said socket standard intermediate said base and said carrying plate to yieldably thrust the latter toward said socket member, contact devices respectively supported upon the end portions of said carrying-plate, means for attaching circuit wires to said contact devices, and said contact devices having upwardly projecting contact terminals at their inner ends disposed to enter the inner end of said socket member to operatively engage the terminal electrodes of a lamp engaged in said socket member, said coil spring operating to tensionally thrust upon said carrying plate to hold said terminals in said described engagement with the lamp.

4,-. In a device of the kind described, a tubular socket member having bayonet slots at its receiving end, inwardly off-set leg-members extending longitudinally from its inner end, a suitable base to which said leg-members are secured, said leg-members being spaced apart and together forming a socket standard of substantially polygonal outline in cross section, a transversely disposed carrying plate of insulating material having a central opening conforming substantially to the cross-sectional outline of said socket standard so as to receive the latter whereby the carrying plate is movable toward and away from the inner end of said socket member, a coil spring around said socket standard intermediate said base and said carrying plate to yieldably thrust the latter toward said socket member, contact devices respectively supported upon the end portions of said carrying-plate, fastening means imbedded in said carrying plate and riveted over said contact devices to hold the latter immovable relative to said carrying plate, binding screws associated with each contact device and its fastening means to attach circuit wires thereto, and said contact devices having upwardly projecting contact terminals at their inner ends disposed to enter the inner end of said socket member to operatively engage the terminal electrodes of a lamp engaged in said socket member, said coil spring operating to tensionally thrust upon said carrying plate to hold said contact terminals in said described engagement with the lamp.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of May, 1922.

FREDERICK A. FAULHABER, JR.

Witnesses:

GEORGE D. RICHARDS, FLORA MILLER 

